I know there was one, but it got put on the five day time limit and died. Plus I'm going to be doing a LOT of cooking, most of it being healthy, and I'd kind of like to share.

So I've been sort of put in charge to prepare healthy but tasty meals for my family and as such, I've been going through a few cookbooks and picking out some simple stuff I can do now before the big shopping trip over the weekend.

Last night was a success with Herb-Roasted Cauliflower and Bread Crumbs, a recipe I originally got from Appetite for Reduction (an AMAZING healthy Vegan cookbook). Truthfully though, I wasn't too happy with the spices used, so I just sort of...winged it. Also, the tofu is optional, but it brought forth some nice protein. Here's what I did:

This recipe SAYS it serves four, but it's so moreish that mom and I split it and ate it all. So the whole meal was about 200 calories give or take.

1. Set oven for 250°F 2. put some parchment paper on a baking sheet, spray it with some non-stick cooking spray.3. put cauliflower pieces in a colander. Run water over them until nice and wet (baby!).4. Transfer cauliflower pieces in to bread crumb mixture. Make sure they're completely covered.5. Transfer breaded cauliflower to baking sheet.6. Repeat steps 4 and 6 for the tofu.7. Sprinkle baking sheet with more crumbs and a quick spray of cooking spray.8. Leave in oven for 15-20 minutes until light brown.

BAM. And it was a delicious, spicy meal. Best had with a cold drink (I treated myself and had an Anchor Liberty Ale, which complimented the spiciness of the paprika.

And tonight I'll be making Buffalo Chicken Salad Wraps with a side of Kale Chips. I found a pretty decent recipe for Buffalo sauce and will just be marinating that in a chicken breast, cook it up, chop it up and put it on a wrap with lots and lots of greens. And Kale Chips...well. We know about those. :P

There were some really good thoughts thrown around about "hiding" vegetables, so... I got a few ears of sweet corn that I couldn't dig boiled and buttered, as it's usually served. Cornbread's an obvious idea, and Rachael's idea of mayo/cheese/pepper sounds pretty good, but anyone else have ideas for using these up before they go bad?

It's too hot to eat, and I've got a ridiculous sweet tooth. So. I make blender drinks all summer. Just throw a bananna, frozen or fresh, in the blender with a cup or so of skim or low fat milk, and a big scoop of fat free greek yogurt. Also, a huge and hefty handful of raw baby spinach. Seriously. You WILL NOT TASTE IT. It's the best way to get more nutrients in your diet. Throw in some vanilla extract and two packets of Truvia or Splenda, and mix it up to the highest setting. While it is at the ice crushing stage in a whirl of grindy doom, THEN add around 6 ice cubes one at a time. This way the ice will blend evenly and it will have a better consistency than if you start with the ice in the blender.

If you are craving chocolate, buying some cocoa powder and throwing a bunch of that in there works marvelously, too (though with the cocoa, I'd ad a tiny tiny pinch of salt). And if you are a peanut butter and chocolate person, add some peanut butter, too!

This would be good to use up your berries, too Britt, though honestly, I don't dig berries in shakes because of the seeds fucking with my shake texture.

For just me, I put one whole peeled cucumber in the blender, with a whole raw clove of garlic, some onion, some salt, a big dollop of greek yogurt, some dill, some pepper, and a quarter of an avocado. (and, again, a big fistful of raw spinach which you won't taste). Add about a half a cup of water to get the blending going, and then, again, once it's going, add about 4 icecubes in there one by one. It's very garlicy, and while it might be too much to eat straight, it WOULD make for a delicious dip for baby carrots or some other chopped up vegetables. (If using as a dip, I'd leave out the ice.)

When I was in smoothies for breakfast mode a few years back it was 1 cup crushed ice in the blender, just enough orange juice to cover the ice, one banana, and a handful of strawberries. If I could get decent strawberries in Arizona I'd be trying to get myself back into that and throwing some kale in, too (I've already done a couple of banana orange kale smoothies that worked out quite well, but strawberries make everything better).

And I think I'm going to buy some corn and do fried chicken and kale chips and corn on the cob this weekend. It feels like forever since I've had corn on the cob.

@Britt - And just some general "eating more veggies" advice: USE SPICES AND FLAVORINGS!! Vegetables ARE really boring on their own, even with butter and salt. I only eat salad when I hide it with things I really like. I'm a crunchy person, so if I put a lot of sunflower seeds and walnuts and fruit and chicken and cheese in my salads, it feels like a yummy meal, and not like I'm punishing myself. Figure out what you like. I realized I don't like salad dressing because of the vinegar, so now I just use olive oil and sprinkle on spices that I've picked out myself.

It's gotten to the point now, that when I eat the things I used to live on to "treat" myself (i used to eat fries with mozzerella cheese and gravy EVERY DAY), it ends up not being a treat at all because I feel really crappy after I eat them. The more healthy you can wrangle yourself to eat, the more the foods that seem tempting won't feel so rewarding anymore. (and that's a good thing)

@Britt, following on from @Rachael's advice, investigate curry. I have had entire feasts that contain zero meat and haven't even noticed.

Also if you really cannot get on with eating a bunch of veggies, nuts and seeds are a major source of nutrition that are often missed in modern diets. A handful of brazil nuts contains your entire day's RDA of selenium, for instance.

@Rachael - I love making shakes, and pretend I'm being all healthy cos of the fruit. But then I'll go and spoil it by putting a whacking great dollop of ice-cream in my belnder instead of the ice..I just cannot help myself.

I've tried to work fairly hard over the years to improve my vegetable consumption. I find that many of us North Americans (for those who are) tend to be just totally untrained about cooking with vegetables. We were often raised with a very Puritan attitude towards them, being fed dishes of mainly starch and meat with vegetables relegated to a sad little corner of the plate, presented almost as a punishment. And we haven't been trained to *cook* vegetables - for the most part, we just open a can or toss a bag of frozen veg in the microwave and serve it plain like that. We then think we've failed if we don't like plain, steamed veg. Sad really.

Favorite veggies I like to eat all by themselves that I never thought I would like:- Any sort of greens, wilted with bacon and onion (turnip, mustard, collard, what have you - and DO drink the pot likker)- Brussels sprouts- Broccoli - Cabbage- Spinach- Asparagus- Beets- Turnip / rutebega- Bitter melon

Methods of cooking veggies you may not have thought of:- Purees - cook your veggies, chuck in a blender with a bit of oil or butter, blend til smooth- Terrine - a French-style chilled meatloaf or lunchmeat. Asparagus or carrot sticks through the middle of it makes it beautiful. - Blended soups - close to puree above, not good in the summer (unless chilled), but try a blended squash / carrot / sweet potato soup in the winter. - Pickling - a quick cucumber or green been refrigerator pickle is so refreshing in the summer.- Stuffing - you can make delicious stuffed eggplant, squash, peppers that are filling and satisfying.

And lastly, don't forget just laying out a tray of raw veg with a little dip to snack on.

Finally, try picking up a good vegetarian cookbook just to expand your horizons. The classic Moosewood Cookbook is a good starter.

as promised elsewhere, my recipe for braised candied carrots.You will need an oven proof dish with a lid, or else just cover dish with foil.Chop carrots into bite size chunks and place into oven dish.Add a tablespoon of water, a few small bits of butter, a twist of salt and pepper and sprinkle with a teaspoon of either sugar or honey.Put lid on dish and place in a hot oven. Give it a little stir after about fifteen minutes and cook for another fifteen. The carrots will begin to caramelize and get a really sweet flavour and lovely soft texture. Remove from dish and enjoy.

PS Britt - drinking soda daily (which I gather you had been doing, before trying to cut back, GO YOU!) and not eating any vegetables is DEFINITELY and without a doubt a major contributing factor in dangerous mood swings and depression. Seriously. (And this isn't hippy bullshit, this is real science.)

And here is part three of a short BBC documentary about how food effects mood.

So please do think of shifting your diet as your own means of mood medicine. Your boyfriend will probably be dragging his heels at the idea of eating healthy. I know that you'd mentioned that he's a bit jealous, and he's probably not going to be entirely keen on you altering your diet and losing wieght and gettin' all healthy-like, but perhaps if you explain to him that it's to help you not freak out on him, he'll see it as a benefit to HIM, and something you are doing for you guys as a couple to be more happy TOGETHER. And share this information with your folks, too. Maybe they'll help you out, if you make it clear that eating better will help your mood and outlook.

I have ten pounds of cherries in my fridge. Handpicked by me off trees around the city. Ohmygodsoawesome.

What do I do with them?

I've learned that by hitting the pits with a hammer, you can pull the kernel, which imparts wonderful flavour when boiled in a sauce or somesuch. So, cherry syrup will be a thing. I'm thinking I'll probably use the fruit for jellies and then can the rest as a compote/pie filling. Any other suggestions?